What are the advantages of having a so-called smart electric car charger, and what basic information should you have? We have listed down what you should decide on.
Have a charger that provides lower charging costs
If you are interested in charging at home to save money, we recommend you go for an electric car charger that helps the car charge when electricity is cheap.
Choose a charger that charges faster than the socket
It is not illegal to charge with a normal socket, but there are several reasons why it is not recommended. This is about your safety and fire safety.
The Directorate for Social Security and Emergency Preparedness (DSB)’s clear recommendation is to install a charging station because this provides good security, charges quickly and has great flexibility. A home charger should therefore be the first choice for charging at home, while charging with a normal socket is the emergency solution when nothing else is available.
Choose a smart charger
At home, in your own parking lot, a smart charging station will be able to control the power down when you use a lot of electricity, for example while cooking dinner, and then give “bÃĨn gas” afterwards. This will prevent the fuse from blowing.
In a shared garage or parking facility, the effect of a smart charger will be controlled up and down depending on how many other cars are charging at the sameThen you get maximum utilization of the available power in the building without having to upgrade the power grid, while everyone can charge at the same time.
Integrated fuse
Integrated fuses are a big advantage in larger facilities such as housing associations or workplaces. If an overload fault occurs, integrated fuses ensure that the fault is resolved locally instead of the entire charging system stopping. This way you avoid the whole neighborhood not being able to charge their cars. The fuse therefore goes directly into your charger, and does not affect the other charging stations in the same garage.
Our charging station for housing associations and larger facilities, Zaptec Pro , has an integrated fuse.
Think long term
A charger should last for several years, and you will most likely have it longer than you have your car. It is therefore smart to choose a powerful charging station. Not as in large size, but as in powerful charging effect. Zaptec’s charging stations have an upper charging power of 22 kW. It gives you up to 10 times faster charging than with a normal socket.
A bit unsure of what we mean by 22kW? Then you should know that most new electric cars today are charged with an output of up to 6.6-11 kW. This maximum limit is constantly increasing as car manufacturers launch new car models. But no electric cars charge with as high an output as 22kW.
If you choose a powerful 22 kW charging station, you will not have to change the charger the next time you get an electric car with an even faster charging speed.
In addition, you may also question the design of the charger. Is the design user-friendly?
Think lighting
Don’t forget that we live in Norway, and many people drive from home to work and return when it is dark. If you want to mount the charger on a pole, you can consider a pole with a built-in light. The Zaptec Go home charger also has a light in the charging connector itself, so that you can more easily see where to route the charging cable, even in a place with poor lighting.
See all our charging posts for Zaptec Pro
Location of charger and charging cable
Look for a charger with multiple mounting options. Are you going to have hidden installation, or should the cable be visible from the side or below? Chargers have different mounting options.
Zaptec’s chargers have the option of hidden mounting, that is, the cable goes through a wall and directly into the charger, or from the side or the underside.
Remember that the charger will most likely have a more permanent location than your car, and that it must be installed by a certified electrician. Electric cars have cable connectors on different sides, and this can determine how long the charging cable you need to reach your car.
